Although i know the majority of you who want the old skool movement to return are going to post your distaste for it here anyway. I’d really like to see a general discussion on how these abilities can change, be enhanced, etc iyo.
into. Guess I’ll start. I’d like to see boost moved to the left trigger. Letting you be able to control how much boost you actually want to use. A short pull for a short burst and etc.
Just because Spartan abilities are in the game, doesn’t mean you are forced to use them. Games have to evolve in order to survive. If we back tracked and went to the classic gameplay mechanics, Halo wouldn’t last nearly as long.
I won’t purchase it, not trying to be a drag. I didn’t really enjoy Halo Reach, 4 or 5 all that much and quit playing each faster than the last. If my halo 5 playtime is any correlation It just wouldn’t be smart for me to invest $60 in a game I won’t even play for 60 hours.
Let’s be real here, modern halo’s have been hemorrhaging players at alarming rates. The next halo either needs to be such a good, new and trendsetting take on the formula that will pull fans from other games to play and stick around. Or do it the easy way like modern warefare did, nostalgia bait hard and innovate a little bit off of an old familiar formula that players keep coming back for that old fix they’ve missed for so long.
Either way is viable with enough talent, innovation and hard work. Their track record doesn’t look promising enough for me to personally invest any more of my money into this franchise. At least as long as it continues going down the path I think is the wrong way.
I fall in the camp that wants classic movement mechanics. More than that, I want the whole aesthetic and feeling of the game to be classic too. In a world full of AAA games with microtransactions, advanced movement mechanics, battle royale modes, and the like, I think a truly classic gaming experience would make Halo possibly the most unique game of 2020.
All that said, I know that won’t happen. Microtransactions, advanced movement, and even battle royale are quickly becoming industry standards. So to provide a more realistic answer to your question: let’s bring it back a little to the Reach advanced movement. Make the movement a pickup on the battlefield. Sprinting and jet packs are all good with me to a certain extent. The infinite sprint we have in H5 just goes too far imo. Other than that, get rid of Spartan Charge and Ground Pound. They’re cartoonish.
So here’s my list of advanced movement I’m okay with, provided it takes the form of armor abilities rather than Spartan Abilities:
- Limited sprint - Limited jet pack - ClamberYes, I realize that is a super short list. Really all these are most beneficial for exploration, which is something I really enjoyed from the old Halo games. With that in mind, let’s also ditch the kill timers when we leave the map. Those are quite possibly the worst thing ever added to Halo.
I do like the idea of being able to control how much boost you use, but I think the ground pound should maybe be removed, not because it’s bad, but because it’s not really used much, it is useful for certain situations though, like making long jumps.
If Spartan Abilities are in Infinite, I’d probably do what I did with Halo 5 (and the Xbox One): skip it. A return to form is what I’m looking for. A true return to Halo’s roots. If I don’t get that from Halo Infinite, it’d be a shame; but after almost a decade of disappointment, I’d be used to it. I’d at least have the MCC PC to fall back to. Just hope it doesn’t have to be that way.
The ONLY compromises I can be okay with are:
-
Do what Reach should have done: make abilities pick-ups on the map to fight for like any power weapon. But every starts off equally: no sprint. Just your guns, grenades and melee.
-
A very limited thruster ability. Doom Eternal added something like this, but it didn’t break the flow/interfere with the core.
I like sprint, thrust, clamber, and slide.
No that fussed with hover and ground pound.
Don’t like spartan charge.
I’d like the ability to quickly turn 180 degrees and face the opposite direction (it could be tied to thrusters).
It would be cool to briefly boost your shields (drop shield / bubble shield type effect). A very short time frame (couple of seconds) to survive a 'nade spam or a rocket blast etc. Counter it with depleted shields right after that take a bit longer to regenerate.
Radar boost. The ability to boost your radar and see further / stationary targets. Just a single impulse. Would have to be limited use though.
> 2546678360738636;3:
> Just because Spartan abilities are in the game, doesn’t mean you are forced to use them. Games have to evolve in order to survive. If we back tracked and went to the classic gameplay mechanics, Halo wouldn’t last nearly as long.
You do get that implementing SA means different map designs to complement added button prompts which means it’s unoptimized for not using them & that implementing said mechanics usually mean that the basic movement is made inferior to that what it could be on a game design that doesn’t implement such mechanics to make the extra abilities viable?
If you look at H5g for example, the maps themselves are really boring, as in there is nothing in them, no gravity lifts, no loose objects, nothing. Just upscaled maps that make traversal the same speed with gaps designed to be crossed by thrusting, flat surfaces for clambering etc etc…
Many of these these SAs cannibalize on map focused design Halo had that made it different from many games instead of moving towards making similar gameplay type of other games at the time.
And “evolution” is a funny word to use here, it gives an image of moving forward but evolution also happens to have branches in it instead of moving forward as a single trunk.
As in need to “evolve” doesn’t mean that everything needs to take the same path as others do.
Surely the solution is not to make every new game the same way the previous one did but there is quite the difference in building upon the existing formula & implementing currently popular mechanics that cannibalize the existing formula.
If every FPS at the same time has the same gameplay mechanics doesn’t the genre itself turn boring faster as it’s not everyday that something revolutionary is invented?
The current path just works to simplify the genre in a way that games end up without much of a difference or recognizeable functions other than different brand-specific skins.
But thats not what the topic is about, it’s about how you would “enhance” these abilities.
So how I would change things other than removing things, likely button mapping for controller, simple but it would be best in this situation.
I liked the Spartan Abilities in Halo 5. Made the Spartan Super Soldiers actually feel more like super soldiers in-game. I wouldn’t mind them returning. Unfortunately alot of people had different opinions so chances are we might get some changes. Hopefully sprint, clamber, thruster and smart scope are kept at least, those came in handy, didn’t care much for the offense-based ones like Spartan Charge and ground pound since they rarely came in handy for me personally.
> 2535435902217648;5:
> I fall in the camp that wants classic movement mechanics. More than that, I want the whole aesthetic and feeling of the game to be classic too. In a world full of AAA games with microtransactions, advanced movement mechanics, battle royale modes, and the like, I think a truly classic gaming experience would make Halo possibly the most unique game of 2020.
>
> All that said, I know that won’t happen. Microtransactions, advanced movement, and even battle royale are quickly becoming industry standards. So to provide a more realistic answer to your question: let’s bring it back a little to the Reach advanced movement. Make the movement a pickup on the battlefield. Sprinting and jet packs are all good with me to a certain extent. The infinite sprint we have in H5 just goes too far imo. Other than that, get rid of Spartan Charge and Ground Pound. They’re cartoonish.
>
> So here’s my list of advanced movement I’m okay with, provided it takes the form of armor abilities rather than Spartan Abilities:
> - Limited sprint - Limited jet pack - ClamberYes, I realize that is a super short list. Really all these are most beneficial for exploration, which is something I really enjoyed from the old Halo games. With that in mind, let’s also ditch the kill timers when we leave the map. Those are quite possibly the worst thing ever added to Halo.
I think those 3 are almost perfect. I don’t know about the jet pack for multiplayer. Other tHan that it’s a nice balance of old and new.
I think a game without sprint would have anyone new to the series a bit baffled.
I’ve been a huge advocate over the last years of enhanced movement. But one of the things I’m coming to grips with is just cuz its faster doesn’t mean it’s always fun. I’ve racked my brain around the idea of what makes Halo 5, for me, more fun
And what I’ve come up with, was my enjoyment wasnt from the abilities themselves, but from the fluidity of the movement they way your character moved around the map, how he/she was animated and manipulated objects; but being able to sprint, slide and clamber helped in giving that smoother, more fluid gameplay feel. That was the experience i loved, it felt good to be able to jump up on to things or slide into cover while sprinting, and that 60fps was the icing on the cake for me.
So while I’ve been a staunch supporter of “enhanced movement”, having a more focused, maybe tamer, ability pool would be a welcome addition. I’d personally like to see sprint return, albeit with a slower recharge speed, and reduced sprint time- ie short, much quicker boosts for sprinting.
I think base movement should be increase by 15, maybe 20%, but keep clamber and slide and build the levels for more verticality to match the “improved movement” mechanics.
While I do like the thrusters, I’d rather see a deft movement mechanic where your spartan can quickly sidestep out of incoming fire. Not totally avoid it, but to help reduce thier overall damage in firefights. This can be seen as a cheap idea to avoid conflict in combat, but it could help with those mid-March reversals in 1v1, 1v2, 1v3…1v17 whatever.
In short, I havent come full circle, or done a complete 180°, but I feel like revisiting “enhanced movement”/ spartan abilities, figuring out what works, what doesn’t, and what to improve could keep Halo fresh, but also not alienate “OG players” who want that more pure CE experience.
That’s my take on the matter.
If they put it on the map as a power up like overshield and active camo I’d be fine with it
I’d like to see customization of the ability platform. I just realized that I 
a perk likeness (gooo) 
. I want it to be simple… Like an weak overshield that requires an extra shot at the expense of a longer recharge rate for example; hopefully, a few customized abilities could lead to gameplay improvements.
Chime in please if you have any ideas about possible pro-con (1-1) relationships for traditional abilities in regards to camouflage , overshield, radar, sprint, jump, thrust, slide, etc.
IF Spartan abilities were to return, I like the idea of having the ability to control how much you boost. You’d be able to vary how much you use, and maybe it’d be useful to vary your boosts in a gunfight. Sounds interesting.
If anything, I’d say do away with Ground Pound. As the idea was cool in concept, it doesn’t a whole of use within everyday gameplay in Halo(at least for me. Rarely use it.) If there was more application of Ground Pound into maps, such as to destroy shield barriers or formations to break into a base from up top, or had more of a specific use it could be applied to(maybe something like extra damage against vehicles), I wouldn’t mind it as much.
> 2546678360738636;3:
> Just because Spartan abilities are in the game, doesn’t mean you are forced to use them. Games have to evolve in order to survive. If we back tracked and went to the classic gameplay mechanics, Halo wouldn’t last nearly as long.
your confusion evolution for straight-up change. Evolution is a gradual process and consists of iteration upon iteration. H4-H5 was a massive leap from H1-3. That’s why a ton of people disliked them gameplay-wise. They did not evolve the H3 system, they demolished the house and put up a new one. The goal with infinite is to draw in old players and introduce new players to it. The best way is to improve on H3 systems and bring them up to modern standards. Honestly, It makes sense and people are more willing to play games without these “enhanced mobility” cliches thrown into them (ModerWarfare, Valorant, Overwatch etc). Valorant and Overwatch excel cause the abilities that are per character are essentially a core pillar. I think abilities can be an extension of the 3 pillars in H1-3. Honestly, they should just overhaul the equipment system H3 had with new stuff included and old stuff revamped.
> 2546678360738636;3:
> Just because Spartan abilities are in the game, doesn’t mean you are forced to use them. Games have to evolve in order to survive. If we back tracked and went to the classic gameplay mechanics, Halo wouldn’t last nearly as long.
I will quote what I said in a different thread earlier as it relates to this:
“Tsassi has a link on his signature box. If you click it you will see a link to a google drive folder or something. In it, you will find the placement of Halo 3 in Xbox Live Most played games from 2007 to 2013. You will see that it never went up in any spot above the top 20 even up to the end of 2013 if we go by his stats. This means it did very well despite SIX very popular CoD games being released during this time (I’d argue more popular than any CoD released during Halo 5’s lifespan other than MW 2019) and it even went up against games that Halo 5 competed with such as GTA V. On the contrary, Halo 5 has been in the 30s for well over a year. Currently, it is at spot #37, only 6 spots ahead of Black Ops 2 (#43).”
All this being said, if this was the case why didn’t Halo 5 last anywhere near as long as Halo 3 did in the top 20s if it “evolved”? If you enjoy that style of gameplay that’s great, more power to you! However, we should not act like it did any favors for Halo 5’s population.
> 2533274840624875;16:
> > 2546678360738636;3:
> > Just because Spartan abilities are in the game, doesn’t mean you are forced to use them. Games have to evolve in order to survive. If we back tracked and went to the classic gameplay mechanics, Halo wouldn’t last nearly as long.
>
> your confusion evolution for straight-up change. Evolution is a gradual process and consists of iteration upon iteration. H4-H5 was a massive leap from H1-3. That’s why a ton of people disliked them gameplay-wise. They did not evolve the H3 system, they demolished the house and put up a new one. The goal with infinite is to draw in old players and introduce new players to it. The best way is to improve on H3 systems and bring them up to modern standards. Honestly, It makes sense and people are more willing to play games without these “enhanced mobility” cliches thrown into them (ModerWarfare, Valorant, Overwatch etc). Valorant and Overwatch excel cause the abilities that are per character are essentially a core pillar. I think abilities can be an extension of the 3 pillars in H1-3. Honestly, they should just overhaul the equipment system H3 had with new stuff included and old stuff revamped.
I would argue that 4 and 5 didn’t change much at all, just the changes that were made changed, not built upon what was there. In regards to campaign combat or map design, adding to the sandbox or improving the game, there isn’t many, aside from forge. To make the combat in Halo so stop/start with sprint and then add mechanics which do not harmonise with the map design or killtimes of the weapon sandbox would be akin to making the movement in mario unintuitive or sonic slow. The first game is combat evolved, why devolve it? why make it second fiddle to other games? People say more competition, but the top shooters currently are games that peak Halo would trounce, many are incomplete or janky, very skimpy on actual content.
Halo needs buzz to attract players, when you fracture the fanbase it becomes impossible, the largest chunk of the fanbase is still far and away the classic fans, the audience that now play other shooters. (i’m moreso talking to the void haha, i’m agreeing, just grandstanding)
To answer OP, i wouldn’t play. I played a lot of reach but what kept me there was all the friendgroup still playing from H3. The user interface and playlist structure made the incomplete or controversial aspects of the game more fun. I don’t want the game to cater to every whim, just generally appeal to me. After it not doing so in 4 or 5 it would take not just nostalgia bait but a genuine forward thinking game with an ambitious campaign and well rounded multiplayer/customs/PvE for me to jump back in.
The only Spartan abilities that worked best was Sliding and Clambering. Sorta-wise was SmartScoping, Sprinting, and Thruster Packs. Poorly was Ground Pound and Spartan Charging.
- Sliding and Clambering were the better parts because both of them just needed to happen since they are the basic things that even the most scatter shot marine can do without much trouble. Jumping and crouching correctly to get somewhere is just flat out annoying all the time, while sliding is a trademark soldier thing to do no matter what, just ask baseball players. - SmartScoping kinda worked but didn’t seem like a proper iron sight/scope aiming system like every other shooter ever made asides COD (mainly due to the awkward designs of all the weapons), made worse when you can get descoped when getting shot at making you utterly hopeless to fight back. Sprinting is another thing everyone can do easily, Halo 4 did it best in-terms of practical logic and didn’t last forever by default (and also didn’t reset shield recharging, that was just outright cruel in Halo 5), Halo 5 made it unlimited by default which was rather unnecessary and made the Spartans more OP than supposed to be (I know they are biologically augmented but they can still run out of stamina). Thruster packs was a bold move that gave more evasion abilities, but they weren’t THAT helpful if not a little too weak, not as weak/useless like in Halo 4 and was abused too much when moving forward in most games and also won’t save you from spammed grenades (especially since they got rid of grenade danger indicators used in Halo 4 and Halo 2 Anniversary MP, idiotically). - Ground pound was rather unessential since its mostly used by cheap-shot glitchers and sometimes was too slow to be of use from a great height. Spartan charging was also abused too much and was something that didn’t need to happen with the unlimited sprinting and was OP for the most part while also tricky to hit with sometimes.The only ability that was missing was crawling. Some abilities can stay while others are chucked out the window or disallowed in majority (maybe allowed under custom game options) and some can come back but after some needed alterations.
My opinion…
EDIT 05-24-2020: Mentioned the absence of grenade danger indicators. Regardless if its “Too COD and doesn’t belong in Halo” it’s still a problem today.
Spartan charge has to go.
I like ground pound for movement but if I probably wouldn’t even realize it wasn’t in the game as I rarely see it used.
I’d be fine if sprint was limited in some way but I enjoy the extra layer of gameplay it adds; You have to choose movement or shooting, running or letting your shield recharge.
I also like the thruster as it adds an extra layer to the movement mechanics and enables more variety in encounters.